Mazda Relaunch In South Africa

On 1 October 2014, Mazda South Africa will begin operating independently for the first time in almost 20 years. What can we expect from the innovative Japanese marque?

The global financial crisis of 2008 rocked the motor industry. Model lines were dropped, brands sold off or killed, and executives were forced to streamline operations.

Just before this, in 2006, Alan Mulally took over as CEO of Ford Motor Company. Previous CEO William Clay Ford, Jr. had guided Ford through their own financial crisis in 2005 but the organization was still too large. Mullany sold off Jaguar Land Rover to Tata, Volvo to Geely and Aston Martin to a group of investment bankers. He also announced plans for Ford to begin disinvesting in Mazda, a company they’d had close ties with since 1979. When Mulally took over, Ford had a 33% stake in Mazda, with part sharing and platform development being shared across both companies. By December 2010, Ford had reduced its stake in Mazda to just 3%.

It’s with this setting that, on 1 October 2014, will see Mazda South Africa take over operations from Ford Southern Africa. Headed by candid Australian executive David Hughes, Mazda SA has backing from the companies global operation and a simple brief for the medium-term: for Hughes to regain the market share lost during the neglect by Ford.

Small Goals into the Mid-Term

Mazda SA will be relaunching with four models: The new Mazda3, Mazda6, a face-lifted version of the CX5 CUV and the BT-50 carried over from the Ford-era. The launch strategy is spearheaded by the Mazda3, an all-new model. In February 2015 the new Mazda2 will arrive, with the all-new MX5 due in South Africa in Q4 of 2015.

“Become the brand of choice for the private buyer and those business buyers that behave like private buyers.”

The Mazda brand goal is to move from being thought of as a price-competitor alongside Toyota and Hyundai, and into a space that will tempt people out of their BMWs and Audis – offering a luxurious, stylish vehicle while delivering on Mazdas values of innovation, fun and value.

When asked about more models and the expansion of Mazda into the rest of Southern Africa, Hughes said the goal is to introduce just the Mazda2 and MX5, as well as realign the image of Mazda . The current Mazda operation will include single dealer operations in Namibia and Mozambique, with no immediate plans to expand the Mazda footprint into the rest of Southern Africa.

On the subject of manufacturing in South Africa, Hughes openly admitted that South Africa has a number of benefits for manufacturing investors. Geographical location, the ability to export product easily through our port and rail network as well as relatively low labour costs. He noted the hindrances include an unstable labour force and a lack of trade agreements to incentivize export to other developing nations, but that these did not rule out the potential of a Mazda manufacturing facility in the long-term.

How exactly South Africa will react to the relaunched Mazda brand is uncertain – with a strong leadership and good product, the team have the fundamentals in place to return Mazda to a brand loved in South Africa. We hope this innovative marque can deliver on this.